Jakarta, Feb. 21 -- Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) clarified on Saturday that a large hole in a village in Central Aceh, Aceh, was caused by a landslide, not a sinkhole.

"What happened in Central Aceh was actually a landslide, not a sinkhole. The tuff layer is not dense and has low strength, making it easily eroded and prone to collapse," Adrin Tohari, head of BRIN's Geological Disaster Research Center, said in a statement.

He said satellite imagery from 2010 had already shown a small valley or canyon at the site in Pondok Balik Village, Ketol Subdistrict. Over time, erosion and repeated landslides widened and deepened the area, forming the large cavity seen today.

The Aceh Energy and Mineral Resources Agenc...